Obama’s starting to be “not believable” on coal …

posted at 4:54 pm on February 12, 2010 by Ed Morrissey

When it comes to coal, Barack Obama lost all of his credibility with the Right when he told the San Francisco Chronicle in January 2008 that any new coal-burning plant would get bankrupted in an Obama presidency, thanks to tough environmental policies he planned to use to discourage fossil fuel use. As for Democrats and crossover voters in Coal Belt states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia, they clung to Obama’s promise to support clean-coal technology, and to his appointment of a supposedly coal-friendly EPA chief. Now, however, after the EPA has announced its plans to consider carbon dioxide a dangerous emission and the halting of coal-mining permits, not even Senator Jay Rockefeller can maintain the illusion any longer (via Geoff A):

For too long, some coal-state members of Congress accepted Obama’s promises without noticing the 800-pound gorilla in the room – administration policies. There is evidence that may change.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., seems to have become a convert. Last week he signaled strongly that promises from the White House are not enough. During a Senate hearing on Obama’s proposal for the 2001 budget, Rockefeller lashed out.

According to one published report, Rockefeller made it clear “he isn’t sure he trusts the president’s commitments to coal. …” Referring to Obama’s pledges to support coal, the senator complained that, “He says it in his speeches, but he doesn’t say it in (his budget proposal). He doesn’t say it in the actions of (EPA Administrator) Lisa Jackson. And he doesn’t say it in the minds of my own people. And he’s beginning to not be believable to me.”

Gee … ya think? How thick-headed does one have to be to not understand Obama’s point in saying this:

The problem is not technical, uh, and the problem is not mastery of the legislative intricacies of Washington. The problem is, uh, can you get the American people to say, “This is really important,” and force their representatives to do the right thing? That requires mobilizing a citizenry. That requires them understanding what is at stake. Uh, and climate change is a great example.

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.

They — you — you can already see what the arguments will be during the general election. People will say, “Ah, Obama and Al Gore, these folks, they’re going to destroy the economy, this is going to cost us eight trillion dollars,” or whatever their number is. Um, if you can’t persuade the American people that yes, there is going to be some increase in electricity rates on the front end, but that over the long term, because of combinations of more efficient energy usage, changing lightbulbs and more efficient appliance, but also technology improving how we can produce clean energy, the economy would benefit.

If we can’t make that argument persuasively enough, you — you, uh, can be Lyndon Johnson, you can be the master of Washington. You’re not going to get that done.

Is Rockefeller sincere? I find it difficult in the extreme to believe that anyone with enough cranial power to breathe without written instructions could have misinterpreted what Obama promised in this Chronicle interview. It didn’t get made public until a few days before the election, and people in the Coal Belt may not have heard about it in time, but it’s been part of the record ever since. And as Rockefeller himself points out, the administration’s actions on coal for the past thirteen months have made clear their animus towards that “great natural resource.”

If Rockefeller is sincere, then he deserves a Captain Louis Renault Award for his shock, shock! at Obama’s hostility towards the industry that powers his home state. If not, then West Virginians need to replace Rockefeller at the first opportunity — unfortunately, four years out — to send someone a little more honest and less clueless to the US Senate. Either way, all of the rest of us who have been warning about Obama’s environmental extremism can certainly add Rockefeller’s belated complaint to the mountain(top) of evidence for our argument.

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I don’t know about Rockefeller, but a lot of people didn’t put any effort into examining Obama’s record or public statements beyond what he read off of a telepromter. And it’s not like the anti-coal sentiment was limited to that San Fran-sicko quote. Biden was also caught on tape saying “no clean coal” and that he’d rather outsource it to China.

The Coal Belt states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia have no excuse in 2012. Granted, West Virginia went for McCain, but the rest of them voted for Obama even after we tried warning them about his energy policy. They’ll get no sympathy from me if they make the same dumb mistake again.

if you can’t persuade the American people that yes, there is going to be some increase in electricity rates on the front end, but that over the long term, because of combinations of more efficient energy usage, changing lightbulbs and more efficient appliance, but also technology improving how we can produce clean energy, the economy would benefit.

Don’t forget to properly inflate your tires. Oh, and how about shutting down Yucca Mountain for storing nuclear waste.

I don’t have any sympathy for Rockefeller or any other Obama voter whose livelihood depends on coal. Obama told you over and over again during the presidential campaign that he’s an enemy of the coal business. You chose to vote for him anyway. Now you’ll reap what you’ve sown.

yet with all that we know about what cap ‘n trade would do to the coal industry (& to the rest of us), Dem Congressman Boucher from the fighting 9th CD, VA, voted FOR it. he represents the coal industry of Virginia.

and they are still looking for a Republican to run against him. c’mon!

I find it difficult in the extreme to believe that anyone with enough cranial power to breathe without written instructions could have misinterpreted what Obama promised in this Chronicle interview. It didn’t get made public until a few days before the election, and people in the Coal Belt may not have heard about it in time, but it’s been part of the record ever since.

And there is the problem. 2007: the year journalisim died.

Thousands of people have lied by omission or comission in order to get Obama into the white house.

I want to put policies in place that will necesarily bankrupt the coal industry.

daesleeper on February 12, 2010 at 5:17 PM

Since Rockefeller’s own state is dependent on that industry, what took him so long??? And as PatriotRider so well put it, that Obama is not believable on ANYTHING, how is it that Rockefeller is only now calling him out? Oh yeah, Rockefeller’s a liberal democrat!

If Rockefeller is just now realizing Obama is a compulsive liar then he is unfit to lead in public office. Incompetence that Rockefeller demonstrates is why we are holding onto our values by the skin of our teeth. Politicians have to be the most pathetic excuse for human beings there is.

We fell out of our chairs when at the SOTU he said we need nuke plants and “some offshore drilling”. Can you imagine the speechwriter who wrote these words snickering to himself?—-while quietly saying how dumb the public must be? Can you see the liberals in Cal and Florida saying “over my dead body”? The man is just a flat out liar and an embarrassment to the office.

While we’re beating up on Rockerfeller and talking about liars, let’s also say goodby to Chucky Schumer:

Your Time Is Up, Chuck by Michael Caputo

At the Washington Cathedral memorial service for conservative icon Jack Kemp last May, many of his loyalists asked the same question: with Kemp’s passing, would his infectious pro-growth optimism also depart our political stage? That profoundly sad day, it certainly seemed possible.

Just eight months later, there is a remarkable potential candidate in the Kemp mold who may oppose – and defeat – uber liberal Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). New York Republican, Conservative and Tea Party leaders are talking up the potential candidacy of CNBC commentator Larry Kudlow, a former advisor to Kemp and Ronald Reagan. link

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.

Obama didn’t say he would ask Congress to cap greenhouse gases, and after a year of Obama in office, the Senate didn’t vote on it yet! He said he’s capping greenhouse gases, unilaterally, by executive fiat, via the EPA, without Congressional approval. So he cuts the Senate, including Rockefeller, out of the process.

Obama obviously doesn’t know what “retrofit” means. If you want to control some real pollutant, such as nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, or particulate matter, you can always put some control mechanism (selective catalytic reduction, scrubbers, baghouse, etc.) on the back end to remove the pollutant from harmless flue gas, which includes nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and carbon dioxide.

But carbon dioxide is a natural product of combustion of any carbon-containing fuel. You can’t reduce it by “retrofitting”, adding some control mechanism to separate it from flue gas and convert it to something harmless. You either bury it (at great expense–compression costs are huge, and CO2 can’t be liquefied above 88 F, above which it becomes supercritical at 1,070 psi pressure), or you shut down your power plant. Do that nationwide, and we need to either build lots of nuclear power plants in a huge hurry, or live like the Amish by candlelight.

But Obama is not a scientist or engineer, and has never listened to them. He grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia, where they don’t need electricity, then “community organized” in Chi-town, where he could get anything he wanted by bullying and arm-twisting. He also thinks he’s smart, so anyone who disagrees MUST be stupid or racist or both.

Obama: You wanna burn coal? Pay up, rednecks?

Who needs a grouchy old Senate anyway? I’m capping greenhouse gases, like it or not!

His Majesty Hussein the First, like Louis XIV of France:
I am the state.

In WV, they got the msg about “bankrupting coal” and “energy costs skyrocketing” loud and clear. There just aren’t any big cities like in PA and OH that would tip the state blue. Even an oldtimer like Rockefeller must see his job is on the line, especially since he vouched for Obama’s foreign policy creds during the campaign.

Anyone who didn’t figure Obama out before the last election should get a medal for “stupid”. His politics were totally obvious. McCain is a semi loser also but his policies would not have bankrupted the country.

Um, if you can’t persuade the American people that yes, there is going to be some increase in electricity rates on the front end, but that over the long term, because of combinations of more efficient energy usage, changing lightbulbs and more efficient appliance, but also technology improving how we can produce clean energy, the economy would benefit.

The man is a complete moron on energy production as well as all of his advisors, apparently.

Rockefeller, Byrd, Gov. Manchin, and the head of the United Mine Workers (shocker) all campaigned for Obama. The rest of us here knew better and saw right through all the BS. That’s why we voted for McCain. I just want to say no sh*t sherlock to these morons when they act shocked, SHOCKED! at this administration’s stance on coal. Rockefeller is a carpet bagging, nanny, elitist donkey and I pray to God we kick his butt out.

Obama doesn’t care if you’re a democrat or a Republican because he is neither! He and his handlers have an agenda and it is not America friendly. I am not paranoid and that is not hyberpole. That is a fact that America seems to be waking up to. November can not come soon enough!

But carbon dioxide is a natural product of combustion of any carbon-containing fuel. You can’t reduce it by “retrofitting”, adding some control mechanism to separate it from flue gas and convert it to something harmless. You either bury it (at great expense–compression costs are huge, and CO2 can’t be liquefied above 88 F, above which it becomes supercritical at 1,070 psi pressure), or you shut down your power plant. Do that nationwide, and we need to either build lots of nuclear power plants in a huge hurry, or live like the Amish by candlelight.

(sarcasm on)
Well to be fair Obama never voted for the law of the conservation of matter or the 2nd law of thermodynamics so he probably figures all they need to do is repeal either one and everything will be fine.

He is not clueless. He is dishonest. A cheat to be precise. Everybody on the right was playing that audio. Screaming from rooftops. Then the clean enerrgy legislation passed the house. What did he want to to believe he thought through all that?

These States are dieing and they are doing it to themselves voting for liberals.

GOOD JOB!

upinak on February 12, 2010 at 5:13 PM

FDR and his nosey wife brainwashed WV into thinking we needed them. Most of the state equates Republicans with the old coal mine operators and Democrats/the government as some savior on a white horse. And the few Republicans we actually have in the government are usually empty headed benchwarmers.

“UMW for Obama” signs dotted the landscape in western PA coal counties prior to the election. I could only shake my head at the sheeplike behavior of the Dem party voters. Many are not aware of how the party of their grandaddies and daddies has been moving ever socialist.

JD Rock must have money stuffed into his ears. If WV does not go GOP after hearing this kind of crap from its elected officials and unions, I don’t know what the voters are thinking. Stupid is as stupid does. Wake up, Mountaineers.

The man is a puppet, and his puppet masters will have their way or the puppet will likely wind up broken.

Keemo on February 12, 2010 at 6:32 PM

So true. *shaking head* when will it end?

Coal is our main source of electricity! Clean coal tech is solid, promising and GOOD.
I guess I should just try to recycle poo for power to pacify Obama and his secondary lord Gaia instead.
Hopefully Obama won’t mind when poo recycling doesn’t allow him to keep the Whitehouse thermostat at 72 deg F!

I heard what Obama said about coal right before the election, along with everything else scarry as hell about him, and I couldn’t believe that no one was horrified. It was like the world was under a spell.

I had an arguement with a liberal nut who said people only “think they need coal because that’s what they’ve been told”. This person bragged about how she was an environmentalist, and it made me shudder.

The Ojesus administration has been blocking, denying, and delaying permits for coal mining operations for a year now. I guess y’all don’t check your tips@hotair.com e-mails from hillbillies…I’ve sent numerous links related to the stealth war on coal that Jug=ears has been waging since taking office.

They are using the same tactics on proposed power plants, as well, btw.

OT: Has anybody heard or seen MadisonConservative lately? He hasn’t posted in the Greenroom and haven’t seen him commenting lately.

???

portlandon on February 12, 2010 at 5:16 PM

portlandon on February 12, 2010 at 6:00 PM

Hmmmm…
Interesting you bring that up. Seems to me whenever anyone criticizes Allah on this site, MadisonConservatve jumps all over them — a real defender. But Allah is on vacation, and MadCon is nowhere to be found? Hmmmm….. :)

You keep voting liberal turds in and you wonder why everything begins to stink? Then again it’s easy to see how it could happen with BO and Rocky’s voters because they have their heads so far up their butts they wouldn’t notice the smell.

He says to those that are in the CO2 business, those that use electricity or produce it…I will make you suffer for your insolence, for your profits, for the death and suffering your carbon footprint brings.
Who didn’t believe him? He’s a serial liar, but when it comes to destroying business or lowering America in the eyes of the world he’s quite truthful.

Yup. The media and the whole cultural dynamic were doctored for The One.

Reverse the comments about “typical white person”. $4 gas, “skyrocketing electric bills”, and extremist friends like Reverend Wright, Ayers and an opaque past to a Republican. The conservative would get maybe 20% of the vote?

During the recent meeting with the GOP in Baltimore (on C-SPAN), Barry reiterated the fact that he indeed intends to shut down the coal industry in this country and “transition” it out of existence in favor of green energy. What part of this statement did a well-educated Rockefeller misunderstand? I’m sure the residents of coal states understood that comment.

As a life long West Virginian, I can say that Rockefeller is a complete idiot but it doesn’t matter to the majority of my state. The voters here have proven multiple times that they don’t learn from their mistakes. He will continue to get elected as long as he continues to run.

Sadly, my state would probably vote for Rockefeller and Byrd(live or dead) no matter what. The only time the people here seem to pay any attention, is when it comes to picking a POTUS. They occasionally get that one right.